Long-term liabilities

Long-term liabilities are liabilities with a future benefit over one year, such as notes payable that mature longer than one year.

In accounting, the long-term liabilities are shown on the right wing of the balance-sheet representing the sources of funds, which are generally bounded in form of capital assets.

Examples of long-term liabilities are debentures, mortgage loans and other bank loans. (Note: Not all bank loans are long term as not all are paid over a period greater than a year, an example of this is a bridging loan.)

By convention, the portion of long-term liabilities that must be paid in the coming 12-month period are classified as current liabilities. For example, a loan for which two payments of $1000 are due, one in the next twelve months and the other after that date, would be 'split' into two: the first $1000 would be classified as a current liability, and the second $1000 as a long-term liability (note this example is simplified, and does not take into account any interest or discounting effects, which may be required depending on the accounting rules).